


The Long Shot

by CrypticGabriel



Series: Sheith Month 2018 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: #SheithMonth2018, Based off Season 6, Developing Friendships, Galaxy Garrison, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Light Angst, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Pre-Series, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 12:46:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15119696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrypticGabriel/pseuds/CrypticGabriel
Summary: This whole class presentation is a complete waste of Keith's time. So, why is this random officer from the presentation suddenly reaching out to him? Why does he care so much? He's not anything special.For Sheith Month. Prompt 1 - Dynamics // Trust





	The Long Shot

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so happy to be working on Sheith Month! AND, it's been a long time since I've written any canon/canon-divergent Sheith! I hope you guys enjoy, and I hope I'll have enough free time to fill in all the prompts!

_“Just go ahead and unpack your things. Orientation’s in an hour.”_

_“But, I don’t…” Keith trails off_ when noticing that the officer that escorted him into his new room left. He looks back in his room curiously, noticing the structure of where the bunks are and how… mechanic it all looks. Well, it could always be worse. His room back at the home was a little less inviting.

He sees his new uniform waiting right there for him on his bed. He sets his bag down so that he can hold the clothing in his hand. It feels comfortable, at least. He figures it’s a good idea that he should change into it. After all, he doesn’t imagine ever getting to wear his casual clothes frequently anymore.

Orange isn’t the best looking color, but he’s not complaining.

There’s hardly anything in his bag but his clothes and a couple keepsakes from his old life. Among these things, he sees the wrapped up blade that he’s had for as long as he can remember. There’s no real use for it, and it’s better that he hides it now in his drawer before he gets caught with it. Having a weapon has to be a pretty high offense, after all.

He doesn’t really care for his new roommates. He knows he’s not going to be that close with them, so he doesn’t even bother to get their names. Surely, he’ll hear them in passing. And as he stands there and waits for the hour to pass, he’s starting to wonder once again if coming here is a good idea.

It’s a long shot. There’s no guarantee that he’d really last long here. What if he flunks out within the first term? What if he gets the judgment that he’s bound to face, being an orphan with no real background and not a dime to his name? Will that affect how his instructors would see him? The invulnerability of not knowing makes him sick to his stomach.

“Welcome to the Galaxy Garrison. We’re glad you could join us.”

He finally hears a familiar voice from down the hall. It’s him! Officer Shirogane. He starts to peer his head from outside his dorm room, wondering curiously if he should go over there and talk to him. His back is turned away from him, and he looks larger than life, like he always did.

Top graduate at the Galaxy Garrison, Senior Officer, the poster child for excellence, Shiro was the top pilot of not only his class, but he was the top pilot in the entire institution’s history. He had the world in the palm of his hand. What made him want to stop and help _him?_ He wasn’t anything special…

\--

 _“When you become a part of_ the Galaxy Garrison, it’s not only a benefit to have you take part in our research in aeronautics and advanced technology, but it can be personally rewarding and fulfilling…”

It’s not anything special. He’s no one special. Keith stares out the window, out towards the endless sky. These Galaxy Garrison recruiters come here frequently, and he only knew that through one of his foster brothers that saw an officer just like him a year before. And this man, this… Shirogane character, is just like any other officer that’d come here. He’d give his speech, talk about how _wonderful_ it is to do what he does while he shows off his accomplishments to curious students. He’s not buying any of it for a second.

How would that man know what’s fulfilling to him? How would _he_ know that it would be rewarding? He has no idea what Keith has gone through and what he’d lost before he was old enough to question why or how. Being at this so-called Galaxy Garrison is not going to make all his problems go away. It’s not going to ease the hurt. The effort that probably had to go into making any of it rewarding was probably too strenuous. He quickly chocked it off, realizing before giving the man a chance that it wasn’t for him.

Fortunately, it’s his last class. Pamphlets and applications are handed out to all the students, but Keith just crumbles them up as soon as the bell rings. He hears Shirogane give a couple final words.

“As soon as you’re finished filling out your applications, feel free to mail them to the address you’ll find at the bottom of the recruitment pamphlets. We look forward to seeing you there. Oh! Uh, you there!”

Keith stops about halfway from throwing out the papers when he hears the man call for him. Oh, _great._ He’s not about to humiliate him for not paying attention to the presentation, is he?

“Mind if I talk to you?” He gives him a small smile. “I’d love to discuss with you more about the Galaxy Garrison.”

“I actually do mind.” Keith scoffs and slings his bag over his shoulder. “It’s nothing special.”

“Nothing special?” he gasps, but there’s not really a sign in his tone that he’s offended by what he said. “What makes you think that?”

“Your uniform… your speech and all, it doesn’t really mean anything to me.” His fists clench. “Can I go now?”

His teacher is already getting up to leave. “Now, Keith, why don’t you hear Officer Shirogane out?” she offered politely.

“So, _that’s_ your name,” he chuckles. “Better than ‘you there,’ huh?”

Keith is getting more and more unamused by the second. “Look. This has been fun and all, but nothing you’ve said has made me gain any interest. So, I’m just gonna go. Thanks for the talk.”

“Wait!”

He’s about ready to groan out when he hears Shiro try calling for him again just as he turns his back. He frowns and turns back around. “What?”

Shiro follows him outside of the classroom. “All you have to do is apply. If they like what they see, you’ll take a test to get in.”

“Are you this persistent with _every_ student that listens to your lecture?” Keith grumbles. “I don’t have a way to get there.” He speaks in an exaggerated tone, wanting to make that perfectly clear. “I don’t have money or that great of grades. I don’t even have a home. This type of thing is just not for me.”

“What makes you think that?” Shiro presses. “You seem like a dedicated enough kid to me. After all, you’re dedicated to not taking a single word I say,” he adds with a chuckle. “I think you can manage the workload.”

He tries one more time to shake him off. “See, that’s the thing. I’m a terrible student. Been told that I’m juvie bound. It’s pretty serious. Don’t wanna taint your precious school.” He may be stretching the truth just a little bit.

“And, here’s the thing. I don’t think you’re giving yourself that much credit.” He crosses his arms.

“You have no idea,” he snaps. “You don’t know me at all. Why don’t you just fix your bootstraps and go? Leave me alone…” Just as he’s about to walk away, he hears Shiro say something else.

“If the Galaxy Garrison can turn around a guy like me, they’ll give _anyone_ a second chance.”

He raises a brow and scoffs. “What? Were you _actually_ juvie bound, or something?”

All he does it shrug. “If you really don’t want to hear anything more about the Galaxy Garrison, then I’ll stop right here and leave it alone. You can even just forget I ever talked to you, if you want. But if you _are,_ we can talk some more whenever you’re free. I can give you a number to call.”

He shuffles his feet. It’s not that great of a day. He’d rather just not be at the foster home right now. And part of him just had to wonder. Why him? Why’s Shiro so insistent on _him_ joining. There are kids here that are much smarter and more ambitious than he is. “You know what… I’ve already wasted your time enough. Might as well make it worth something,” he offers.

“Great!” He has this smile on his face, like he just struck gold. Is Keith really worth that much, to the point where this officer is willing to spend more time with him to get him to recruit? “I’m parked right outside. We can talk on school grounds.”

\--

 _It takes a lot of convincing._ A _lot_ of convincing. Keith takes a fresh clean pamphlet and application from Shiro, and he currently has it on his desk at the foster home. He’s seen Shiro three times already, all three near the school grounds. And one day, on a particularly bad day at the home, he runs away with nowhere really to go. So far, he has only one real outlet that would at least get him out of trouble. Every time he calls him, he feels like he’s just bothering the man. After all, he’s probably very busy.

But every single time he asks to talk, it’s like Shiro has dropped everything on his agenda for the day just to see him. And this time, it’s the first time seeing him outside of his uniform, when he meets him at the diner in town. Of course, he’s riding around in this fancy hoverbike, probably to show off his wealth. There’s not enough for him to be fully convinced that this man is legit trying to help him.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Shiro offers as they stand in the parking lot.

Keith doesn’t look at him. “Can we just get out of here?”

With that, Shiro smiles. “I know just the spot.”

He hasn’t ever really felt like he had someone close to talk to since his dad passed away. He never knew his mother, and he had a feeling that maybe she didn’t really want him. His dad never really talked about her dying, and all he’d said was that she left. Was it because of him? Did she not love his dad? Did she not love _him?_ It bothers him endlessly, and it’s what keeps him up at night.

He’d since gotten used to riding on Shiro’s hoverbike, but sitting behind him holding on for dear life is still a common occurrence. However, as he feels the breeze blowing his hair back and he shields he hard wind away using Shiro’s back, he finally gathers his thoughts together. About everything, really. He’s at that point where he’s asking important questions about himself, and he’s starting to think that maybe he _should_ take Shiro’s offer. He doesn’t know how many times he’d tried to fill out the application, only to be distracted by a foster brother or the head of the household that he refused to call a parental figure drawing his attention away from a potential future to drag him into the mud. Maybe he _should_ go for it. It’s a long shot, and he knows this, but if someone like Shiro was willing to just… talk to him, then maybe it’s worth checking out. At this point, anything is better than where he is right now.

Shiro takes him into the desert, with canyons and stretches of dry land as far as the eye can see. Feeling the warm breeze as the sun starts to set is soothing. He takes a glance over at Shiro, who’s looking towards the sky before giving him a gentle look.

“You remind me of myself, when I was your age…” He started calmly. “I didn’t really have a future, either. I was just a boy born from immigrants, watching my parents struggle to find work and food to put on the table. Until one day… they realized that if they wanted me to have a good life, they should hand me over to someone that would provide that for me. If only they actually did.”

Keith is stunned to silence. Why is Shiro telling him this? “I just… I don’t think there’s anything else for me.”

“Not necessarily,” he smiles. “Keith, I think you need to have a little more faith in yourself. If you really weren’t interested, you wouldn’t keep calling me.”

He flushes in pure embarrassment. “What if… I just end up disappointing you? Besides, I looked it up. There’s a tuition, and I can’t pay it. My caretakers sure as hell won’t pay it either.”

“If you go to the Garrison, leave all of that to me,” he insists. “There are also scholarships and grants that you can earn, if you maintain good grades and dedication. And Keith, I know that you deserve better than what you’re given. And this is a chance to give you something that will remedy that.”

He’s taking a _huge_ risk with this, and he knows it. But there’s something about him… maybe it’s his perseverance. He can’t say no. He won’t allow himself to say no.

“…Okay.”

“Okay?” he presses. “As in, yes?”

He nods minutely. “I don’t have much else. But… I just don’t wanna blow it.”

“You won’t.” He sounded absolutely sure of that, and he offered his hand for a handshake. “What do you say? Let’s get you back to the home and get those forms filled out. I’ll send them straight to the Registrar.”

“Okay.” He rolls his eyes while standing near the bike again. “I feel like I just made a deal with the devil.”

He looks back with a cheeky smile. “A good devil?”

“I don’t think there’s such thing,” he points out as they make their way back where they came.

\--

 _“Welcome to the Galaxy Garrison. Glad_ you could join us.”

Keith swallows thickly while Shiro comes down his hallway again. He pokes his head out, hoping that he’d see him. He hasn’t talked to Shiro since he’d gotten accepted, since he didn’t want to bother him anymore. After all, he’d done his job. He’s here at the Garrison now, he’s a student, and he’s going to try and straighten himself out. There’s no real need for Shiro to continue seeing him.

But sure enough…

“Hey, Keith!”

His face goes red as he’s singled out. He looks up and gives him a bashful wave.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he grins and moves closer. “Settled in okay?”

“Huh?” He shakes his head. “O-oh yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good.” Shiro gives him a salute, which Keith is anxious to try and mirror. “You’re getting there. Now, I don’t want you to worry about a thing. As a cadet, I will be your advisor. If you ever need any assistance or extra guidance, I’m never too far away.”

That’s surprising… and also a little relieving. “Okay. Sounds like I’m gonna need it.”

“Have a little more faith,” he teases and starts to walk away.

He stammers. “Thank you.”

At hearing that, Shiro turns around again. “For what?”

Keith rubs his arm. “For… trusting me. That I’d come and all that. No one’s ever really done that for me before.”

Shiro smiles warmly. “You’re welcome. And I should be thanking you for the same reason.”

With that, he walks off to greet more students.

“Welcome to the Galaxy Garrison. Glad you could join us.”

How foolish of him, to trust him.

“Oh wow, is that Officer Shirogane?! He’s my hero!”

“Hey there! Welcome to the Galaxy Garrison.”

But at the same time…

“Glad you could join us.”

Keith can’t help but feel grateful that he did.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://tiff-the-little-wanderer.tumblr.com)   
>  [twitter](http://twitter.com/wandering_tiff)


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